


Growing Up

by Emily (JustAround)



Series: August 2018 Fic-A-Day [2]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), NCIS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 16:28:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15889761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAround/pseuds/Emily
Summary: Tali makes friends at the playground.  So does Tony.





	Growing Up

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place after Season 13 of NCIS and after Season 7 of Buffy, ignoring everything that happened in the comics.

She was growing up too fast.

Tony sat stiffly on the wooden bench, legs tensed in readiness to jump off and run to Tali at a moment’s notice. Usually he would be out there with her, but a firm, “No, abba, sit there! I need to go on adventures!” had him farther away from her than usual while at the playground. Tali barely attention to him as she went down the slide, her arms strong and steady as she pulled herself back up the stairs to the top of the slide, to just do the whole action over again.

It felt like just yesterday when he had taken her here for the first time, stayed with her as she held his hand tightly, uncertainty in every step. Now, she wanted her old man to just sit on the bench while she had her adventures.

If only Ziva could see her.

The usual flash of pain that ripped through his heart was duller, now, after the last few years. He knew he would never find a true peace with her death, but there was a small bit of acceptance that helped ease his heartache. There was no coming back from death; if Ziva had someone escaped, she would have come back now. Would never leave her daughter this long. With every passing day, Tony and Tali carved out a life together, one that may never be truly complete, but each day there was a little more joy than sorrow.

The arrival of another little girl at the slide broke Tony out of his thoughts. Tali stared at her for a minute, a finger going to her mouth in hesitation, and she look over at Tony. “It’s okay, Tali. You two can play on the slide together.”

Tali seemed to consider that for a moment, giving the other girl a big smile as they raced up the stairs. Tony couldn’t help but smile at that, knowing the difficulties Tali had making friends. Maybe coming to the playground as often as possible with the good weather was making a difference. Maybe she was just making the breakthrough with social skills. Whatever it was, Tony was glad for it.

“Mind if I pull up a bench?” 

Tony startled slightly at the unexpected voice, and looked up to meet brown eyes twinkling in amusement. He gave the woman a smile and shifted slightly. “Go right ahead. I’ll warn you, whoever designed the bench did not want anyone to get too comfortable.”

The woman laughed, sitting down gracefully next to him. “Probably all part of their evil plans to keep parents from spending too much time sitting.”

“Well, I’d be happy to not sit, but I’ve been banished by my daughter,” he said slightly dramatically.

“Banished, huh?” she said, lifting on eyebrow slightly. “Whatja do to earn that?”

“She can’t go on adventures with her old man,” Tony explained, turning his gaze from the woman and back to Tali, making sure she was still happily playing.

Noticing his gaze, his companion said, “Sorry for the invasion. Seems my munchkin needs another talk about personal space.”

“It’s fine,” he said, looking back at her. “Tali sometimes has a hard time making friends. In fact, your daughter is the first she’s warmed up to this quickly Ms…”

He let the sentence trail off, raising his own eyebrows as he waited for the introduction. She pulled a face, saying, “It’s just Faith. Ain’t a Ms.”

“Faith,” he said, putting out his hand, taking her smaller one into his. “I’m Tony. It’s nice to meet you.”


End file.
